Honk News (Greene County, PA) – Authorities believe that the 64-year-old man from Pennsylvania had been deceased for approximately six to seven months, while his family endured “terrible” living conditions.
Authorities in Pennsylvania uncovered a shocking situation last week after a brother alerted them to his sibling’s death at home, only to find that the man had been deceased for several months.
Reports indicate that on January 16, the brother of 64-year-old Michael Bebout contacted emergency services to report his passing. Upon entering the residence in Canton Township, approximately 30 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, authorities discovered that Bebout had been deceased for a minimum of six months.
“Upon arrival, we met the brother. The brother was distraught and basically stated that his brother had passed away,” Greene County Regional Police Department Chief William DeForte said. “That’s where things took a turn, a very interesting turn.”
DeForte reported that responding officers quickly observed that Bebout was in a significantly advanced state of decomposition. He also mentioned that it appeared three family members had been residing in the house during the months of his death.
“Currently, our investigation from my detectives has uncovered that family members have been very transient in nature, entering the house and spending the night there, leaving, staying for weeks on end, while the decedent was upstairs in his bed,” DeForte added.
The police chief informed the media that the residence was in a state of extreme disarray, noting the accumulation of dog and rodent waste on the floor, and suggested that the family members could be experiencing a hoarding disorder.
“The conditions were awful,” he said. “There was wall-to-wall dog feces. The situation looked like a hoarder had lived there, very difficult to traverse through the residence, and the odor was extraordinarily unpleasant.”
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“Externally, I don’t think that you would really know,” DeForte added. “Internally, the house was definitely built up with a lot of dog feces. There was a lot of hoarding. I don’t think that the environment would have been conducive for anybody to live in.”
The chief stated that although investigators do not suspect foul play in the death of the 64-year-old, they are examining potential financial crimes that might have taken place. Authorities will examine any potential social security benefits, pensions, or other sources of income he might have been receiving.
“This usually happens when you have a decedent that had passed away and was left in the house by friends and family,” DeForte said. “They are normally taking advantage of the residence and/or the financial situation.”